10000 Friends Of Pennsylvania

Programs: Smart community-based transportation - linking local and regional land use with infrastructure resources, especially transportation dollars, is critical to encouraging responsible land use. 10,000 friends is a pioneer in developing public policy and investment strategies that help state, regional and local agencies achieve these objectives. The following activities are delivering on this strategy: - regional transportation technical assistance - 10,000 friends is working on several community transportation initiatives around the commonwealth: - assist communities in submitting multi-modal projects. Now that the state's new multi-modal fund is operational, we are assisting communities in developing, prioritizing, and submitting quality community projects. We are now working with municipalities and urban planners to assist them in leveraging this new source of funding in order to have maximum impact and value for their efforts to revitalize and redevelop their communities. - regional transportation performance measures. 10,000 friends is assisting and advocating with regional metropolitan planning organizations (mpos) for the adoption of new transportation performance measures, to be applied as project selection criteria to future projects. - regionally-funded smart community transportation programs. Advocated for the creation of new smart community transportation programs at the county or local level, and the expansion of existing program at the regional level. Several counties have been identified as ideal for this opportunity and are targeted for regional program development. - allegheny county - a partnership with allegheny county to educate local officials and transportation investment decision-makers about the public health and community development benefits resulting from community-based transportation investments. New opportunities have been identified to employ our healthy communities action team to assist local communities in determining how to redevelop in ways that will promote healthier living, with more green space, walkable places and easy access to fresh food and other community serving services for all residents regardless of income. - montgomery county - 10,000 friends has been actively testifying and communicating in support of septa's proposed king of prussia rail extension project which will connect the norristown regional rail line to the king of prussia mall and related businesses. Kop is a massive employment center without any rail connection. This initiative portends to be a game changer for the region. 10,000 friends has worked with the local business and civic coalition supporting the effort to promote public acceptance and educate regional leaders. 10,000 friends board chair testified at the main public hearing held in november 2017. Work on this initiative will continue into 2018 and beyond. - supporting local partners - 10,000 friends works with municipal and county entities to demonstrate the benefits of coordinated transportation investments and to facilitate the establishment of local programs that create local sources of transportation funding.

land use and environmental issues of statewide significance - state multi-modal fund development history - concept research and development undertaken by 10,000 friends to demonstrate the land use, environmental, and economic benefits of coordinated multi-modal investments. This work culminated in november of 2013 when the pennsylvania general assembly passed and the governor signed into law act 89, the pennsylvania transportation bill. The legislation as passed includes line-item funding for a first-time ever "multi-modal fund. " 10,000 friends played a critical role in educating stakeholders, legislators and the public about the benefits of such a permanent fund. We seek to maximize state investment in communities' multi-modal projects, making pennsylvania's transportation system more sustainable. These community- level multi-modal improvements include projects such as bicycle lanes, crosswalks, trails, safe routes to school, transit-oriented development, streetscaping and street lights, and bicycling infrastructure. 10,000 friends has continued in 2017 to work to maximize the reach and effectiveness of the new multi-modal fund established under act 89 - assisting communities in competing for these critical funds that make a range of equitable community transportation and mobility improvement projects possible. - state transportation policy reform and advocacy agenda - 10,000 friends is working for state policy change that will provide for: - new performance measures. Develop and promote penndot adoption of new progressive statewide transportation system performance measures that promote linking transportation and sound land use, promote public health, increase access to job opportunities, and promote environmental sustainability. - fix-it-first. Promote a "fix it first" policy to ensure penndot continues to prioritize maintenance and repair and ensure that less than 10% of penndot funds are spent on new capacity-adding projects (i. E. , new roads, widening of existing roads, etc. ). - keystone transportation coalition - 10,000 friends works with partners, organizations, and associations to extend the coalition and to share information and insights related to transportation policy and the impact of land use on state transportation investments. Since 2013, this collaborative work intensified around the goal of educating civic and business leaders, policy makers, legislators and other elected officials about the need for increased transportation funding through a multi-year transportation act. 10,000 friends convened policy breakfasts and conducted numerous meetings with the above-mentioned leaders and officials in order to advance the coalition's goal of seeing that a bill could be enacted with the necessary bipartisan support. This work with the coalition culminated with the passage of act 89, the pennsylvania transportation act. Since, 10,000 friends continues to work with the coalition in advocating for the enactment of a federal transportation bill that will meet the nations - and pennsylvania's - critical infrastructure needs. This is a top priority now that pennsylvania under act 89 will have the capacity to meet federal matching fund requirement and thus be able to leverage more federal funds than states that have failed to pass their own state transportation bills. - severance tax and the state budget - 10,000 friends continued to support, through a coalition of 18 state and regional environmental organizations, that pennsylvania pass a severance tax to fund environmental enforcement, better state monitoring of drilling and its impacts on communities and health, and environmental programs. The measure was not implemented in the 2017 budget year. - working with metropolitan planning organizations. 10,000 friends works with mpos in pennsylvania to promote the benefits of community transportation initiatives and other policy initiatives involving transportation planning that impacts development in the state. Dvrpc, the mpo covering southeastern pennsylvania, has developed its own community transportation funding stream, the transportation community development initiative. 10,000 friends works with dvrpc and sits on the review committee that advises dvrpc on the most effective allocation of funds under this initiative.

building healthy and sustainable communities - local and regional technical assistance and strategic advisory services - in 2016, 10,000 friends launched and is executing a new program model that in future years will use the organization's expertise at a staff and board level, and unparalleled network of sustainable real estate experts, to implement programs that will directly help communities implement their strategic projects. 10,000 friends launched a new initiative in 2015 and 2016 to improve community design and physical form to fight obesity in pennsylvania - an initiative informed by dr. Richard jackson, formerly of the centers for disease control and prevention, who is a leading proponent of the importance of redeveloping the built environment so that communities can be inherently healthier places to live and work. His public television series, "designing healthy communities" has received national attention. Two pilot programs were launched in 2016 - in new castle, pa and the uptown section of pittsburgh, pa - and continued in 2017. A third program was launched in 2017. That new project, in partnership with the commonwealth of pennsylvania, is in norristown, a home-rule community in montgomery county. 10,000 friends conducted multiple site visits to identify locations for green infrastructure and greenspace improvements and met with key municipal and county officials in preparation for developing funding proposals in 2018, sustainable & healthy communities program - 10,000 friends successfully refined its sustainable & healthy community program. Full pilot projects began in 2015 in new castle, pa (see below) and in pittsburgh's uptown neighborhood. Projects are ongoing and have been expanded during 2017. As noted above, a new project was begun in norristown, pa in 2017. For all neighborhoods enrolled, the program is: - developing an informed vision and project plan to create healthier and more sustainable communities with greater economic opportunity; - providing communities with an implementation strategy and assistance in building a set of priority infrastructure and/or development projects that leverage existing assets to create a healthier, more sustainable, more vital community; and - providing communities and municipalities with a greater understanding of the impact of community design, public infrastructure, and the built environment on public health outcomes and lifestyle choices. - completed healthy and walkable communities redevelopment plan - new castle, pa -- in 2016, 10,000 friends teamed with a group of local stakeholders in new castle's south side neighborhood and secured funding to implement a neighborhood redevelopment planning project. That plan/strategy document, the first completed under 10,000 friends' new healthy communities initiative, was completed in 2016 and is publicly available on our website. New castle's south side, the targeted neighborhood, suffers from significant disinvestment and as a result has a high degree of vacancy and blight. These factors have discouraged investment in the neighborhood. As a result, population has declined, and the remaining population has a higher concentration of low-income households, making it difficult to support existing businesses and services. Our approach is to address the problems of vacancy and blight by expanding programs that are currently working, and implementing priorities identified during the community outreach, planning, and market analysis process that was completed in 2016. A combination of blight removal, improvements to existing housing stock, planning reuse of the largest underutilized commercial site, improving public parks and street infrastructure, and longer-term investments in the business district and neighborhood-serving services were identified as priority projects. In 2017, 10,000 friends' project team and local partners implemented the first phase in line with priorities designed to improve the community's livability, help to stabilize and empower the existing population, and set the stage for continued improvement and growth over time. This included blight removal and demolition of 6 of houses in the first residential target area, initial work begun on the gussie walker outreach center, the rehab of 6 structures through our partner organizations, and launching of other first-year projects. 10,000 friends utilizes its community team, which brings together a team of experts - both technical assistance providers and practitioners - to work with local leaders on strategic projects. The team's work focuses on the entire process, from community engagement to measuring the results of completed projects. The team's composition will depend on the particular needs of each community and the projects the community prioritizes, with relevant technical assistance provided throughout a period of sustained and intensive community engagement.

encouraging smart growth development through innovation and communication - innovative finance and project funding - in 2017, 10,000 continued to research innovative ways to develop and fund future sustainable communities projects, given budget cuts in government programs. We will continue to research models for attracting and using private equity to fund community development projects. One focus developed previously and guiding us going forward, was to focus on ways to implement completed transit revitalization investment district (trid) plans-not enough such plans have moved forward in pennsylvania to date. - 10,000 friends of pennsylvania policy development council - 10,000 friends coordinated a meeting of representatives of local, state and regional governments, private sector leaders, and fellow non-governmental agencies to encourage collaboration, create awareness, and build policy solutions for better land use practices in pennsylvania. - the commonwealth awards - 10,000 friends annually organizes its commonwealth awards program. This competitive, jury facilitated awards program highlights the best examples of smart growth principles among real estate development, land use planning, and public infrastructure projects from around the state. In 2017, the commonwealth awards recognized major projects from the city of york, like the 2016 event held in philadelphia, record attendance and contribution levels were also achieved, and the event succeeded in creating a groundswell of local support and civic pride in the projects and initiatives revitalizing a more sustainable york. - partnering with city of york - following the 2017 commonwealth, 10,000 friends has laid plans for further work with local leaders in exploring means and ways to sustain the city's recent revitalization to better promote healthy living and more transportation options. This includes plans for public outreach, including speaking engagements with the local rotary club and other entities, as well as work with the city and the york economic alliance on initiatives focused on innovation and advanced manufacturing. - electronic and web communications - 10,000 friends provides timely information and updates on land use policy, legislative matters and best practices related to responsible land use and investment across pennsylvania. - engagement with national organizations - 10,000 friends is heavily involved with five national organizations: smart growth america, transportation for america, the national complete streets coalition, the state smart transportation initiative, and the national brownfields coalition. The president of 10,000 friends serves on the board of smart growth america, an umbrella organization that plays the leading role nationally in promoting smart growth policies with policy makers and the public. - commonwealth awards smart growth network - 10,000 friends makes awards on an annual basis for smart growth projects that represent best practices and excellence in the field. Over fifteen years, more than 100 projects and hundreds more developers, planners, land use experts in the private, public and non-profit sector have been recognized. 10,000 friends began developing in 2017 a formal network that includes these individuals with the goal of sharing best practices and directly assisting matching award- winning practitioners with communities, municipalities, and non-profits with development opportunities and challenges in ways that will promote smart growth and walkable, healthy communities.